PARIS — Selectmen agreed Monday to pay half the license fee for a railroad crossing that connects a town road with land owned by E.C.I. Materials.

The road to the gravel pit intersects with railroad tracks owned by the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad Co. The company, upon learning of the crossing, demanded a $1,500 annual easement fee and a one-time $300 fee for the preparation of a commercial crossing agreement.

Selectmen agreed to split the $1,800 cost with David Everett, owner of E.C.I. Materials.

“Without the agreement, the railroad could put gates up,” Town Manager Phil Tarr said Tuesday. The town would be unable to reach its own gravel pit, which is beyond Everett’s property.

“The cost is reasonable,” Tarr said.

According to the agreement, the railroad company will now be responsible for maintaining the crossing.

Use of the crossing is limited to the licensees, meaning E.C.I. Materials and the town of Paris, and their “agents, employees, servants, sub-licensees and invitees.” The town and E.C.I. may not use the crossing in a manner that would make it a public crossing, according to the agreement.

The railroad reserves the right of way at the crossing, according to the agreement.

The issue arose when David Everett of E.C.I. Materials asked the town for help in paying for new culverts on a public way that accesses gravel pits owned by several landowners, including the town and his company.

However, in researching Everett’s ownership of the road, a consultant for St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad told Everett that the railroad crossing is private and owned by the railroad. The town and E.C.I. had been using the crossing for years.

In May, selectmen voted 4-0 to split the cost of the new culverts.

Gravel Pit Road is off High Street near the Maine Veterans’ Home.

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